Star readers don't want profanity spelled out: Public Editor

Star readers have spoken: The majority do not want to see swear words spelled out or more profanity in print.

Many readers said while they understand profanity is increasingly part of common parlance, they still don’t want to see it spelled out in the pages of the Toronto Star. They expect a higher standard from us.

“Call me old-fashioned but I don’t want to see foul language printed in full in news media,” wrote reader Barbara Dietrich.

“Swear words don’t add anything to a story. In the same vein, not spelling out the word does not diminish the story,” said Marc Petruccelli.

“Proper speech is under daily assault, so anything that can hold the line against further abuse is welcome,” said Susan Sterling. “Using dashes doesn’t hide the meaning of the word; it’s a courtesy, and one that I hope the Star will continue to extend.”

“Please maintain your high level of integrity by not changing what isn’t broken,” wrote Sandy Borradaile.

Readers have spoken and the message is clear: the Star should not spell out swear words in full or alter its long-standing policy to allow more profanity in print.

In my last column I asked you to weigh in on whether the Star’s practice of using dashes in swear words — in the rare instances when those words are even deemed newsworthy — is a coy standard of the past or an ongoing mark of respect for readers.

More than 200 readers weighed in on this matter via email, online comments, Facebook and handwritten letters. The majority told me they neither want to see swear words spelled out in full nor think the time has come for a more liberal policy.

Of 75 emails, only nine argued for the Star to reconsider its policy. The dozen or so letters readers sent all made the case to keep offensive language out of the Star.

Among those who responded on my Star Facebook page, a majority support the Star’s current policy. Not surprisingly, more vigorous debate occurred within the Star’s online comments, with commenters about evenly split in their opinions on profanity in the Star.

The Star’s current policy states that “swear words and sexually charged terms should be handled with extreme care and in consultation with a senior editor.

“Unless they are in direct quotations, they should never be used. Even in quotes, they should be used sparingly (i.e. only when the words — and the speaker — are central to the story). In publishing swear words, the Star uses short dashes following the first letter.”

Many readers told me while they understand profanity is increasingly part of common parlance, they still don’t want to see it spelled out in the pages of the Toronto Star. They expect a higher standard from us.

“I buy the Star because of the high standard of the content,” said Marie Thomson. “If I was enjoying a column or story and was suddenly hit with a full-blown vulgarity, I probably wouldn’t continue reading. It would be spoiled for me.”

Readers were thoughtful and passionate on this subject and debate online was smart and civil. Here’s a further sampling of views on my question of whether the Star’s policy is “respectful of readers and families, overly prudish and out of date or simply confusing?

“Please can we not have somewhere that we are not constantly barraged with vulgar, sexist, rude language,” wrote Kim Lowes. “It does not take a rocket scientist to understand the meaning of items in our daily papers and adding ‘swear’ words certainly will not help to better understand the gist of the story.”

Nancy Weber said the policy is “old-fashioned, maybe.” But she added, “We need to show respect and integrity and the Star does that as far as I am concerned.”

Weighing in on Facebook, Chris Jarvis said “I’m smart enough to figure out what f--- means, without having to have it spelled out for me.”

“David K” expressed the opposite view in his comment online: “Spell the damned word,” he said.

A commenter named “shirt” agreed: “I believe we are all grown up enough that we can survive having to read the dreaded F-word, especially if it is in the context of a quote or is otherwise necessary to be spelled out,” he said.

Like “shirt,” those in favour of the Star spelling out swear words argued that if the word is deemed newsworthy enough to report — particularly when within a direct quote — it should not be obscured by dashes. They make a good case on that. As I told you previously, some news organizations, such as the New Yorker and the Economist, have opted for this more liberal approach.

Still, in a recent article about the ongoing debate on the media and profanity, Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, said that news organizations must consider “tradition, audience, standards and practices” in striking their own balance between “a sense of good taste and respectability in journalism” and “honesty and newsworthiness.”

All things considered — most especially, our readers’ views — it seems the Star has struck that right balance with its current policy.

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